Releasing The Spirits

In New Zealand: River sprayed to 'free spirits of road crash victims'.

A special police convoy carrying Maori elders is this morning spraying 10,000 litres of Waikato River water on State Highways One and Two in a bid to free the spirits of fatal accident victims.

The ceremonial spraying will be interrupted at two key points in the journey - first at Mercer so a karakia, or prayer, can be performed for the dead. The convoy, which will include iwi, police, Transit and roading contractor Fulton Hogan, will stop again at Maramarua for a second karakia.

The combination of the blessed water and the prayers is considered the trigger for the release of the spirits - or wairua - who were trapped by violent deaths on the roads.

The article doesn't say where all of those released spirits go.